How to feel like a kid again?

[nistake]

I was just listening to some music from my childhood and I remembered those times when I first heard these songs as a kid. I have some fond memories from those times. It got me thinking.

Do you remember those times when you were a kid? Those sunny days, playing outside, listening to music that was trendy back then, meeting other kids and befriending them, playing video games (if you were into that), watching silly TV cartoons, etc?

Don't get me wrong, my childhood was not perfect but I often think about these times. Everything seemed new and exciting. I was fortunate enough to live a stress-free childhood and it'd be really awesome to live like that again.

My questions is: what do you guys think, how can one get back (at least part of) that typical "kid-feeling"? I know it can be difficult because as an adult, you have certain responsibilities and it's not all rainbows and sunshine but still. I believe it's possible.

[Leo Gura]

That's what psychedelics are for.

Of course it won't last. You can't ever be a kid again. You know too much now.

You also over-romanticize how great it was to be a kid. It wasn't as great as you remember because your mind filters out all the bad stuff.

[Aeris]

No I wasn't happy with 'life' very early. Hated going outside. I just liked very few people cause I was a weird chameleon.

I liked my cousins and my GameBoy and pokémon. At 8 I was a fully 'addicted' kid and my mum appreciated me more on vidéo games

I lived in fear and believe got a powerful awakening at 4y ( I sensed me being alive ) why ? Because a kid disguised a rock in replacement of a candy. Since this day I feel 'me' 'i'.

Why a kid I didn't know about try to hurt me ??

But not anymore I just enjoy what is.

Life as a kid wasn't that great. I never grew up anyway :))

I think this is a story. Being a kid wasn't better. Just différent.

I fighted with prob 8 kids until my 18.

In the end my early life was hard because I still got the Peter Pan syndrom.

Fuck grew up.

We are still kids it only depend of you.

 

Edited August 8, 2019 by Aeris

[Raphael]

Live in the unknown. Kids feel that way because their mind is fresh and empty. Many times, I still have this feeling and I'm not a kid anymore

[Natasha]

@nistake I grew up in a very nurturing and supportive family, so I always have that point of reference whenever times get challenging . They say one's formative years are the most crucial in brain development.

However, I found that de-conditioning myself was still necessary, the layers were deep and stuff that was coming up as I was doing shadow work was surprising, to say the least. This is a life-long endeavor, even after awakening you'll have shadow work to do to become more uninhibited, free-spirited, joyful, and unafraid.

 

 

[mandyjw]

5 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Of course it won't last. You can't ever be a kid again. You know too much now.

You also over-romanticize how great it was to be a kid. It wasn't as great as you remember because your mind filters out all the bad stuff.

But Leo!!!  Please tell us how your experiences on psychedelics connected you to your inner child.

Wasn't there a glimpse of wisdom that you had as a child and had forgotten about, just that open-hearted knowing of one's timeless essence, connection with source and in love with the wonder of the world?

@nistake Practice seeing the world with the eyes of a child, see the wonder and magic in everything again. Have an open heart and a willingness to play and open your heart to other people. My best tip of all, go run around barefoot in nature. 

[pluto]

LOVE is the Key!

Be Love!

[Nahm]

Synchronicity is so funny!

So true, even with “all this existential knowledge”, I still end up In the dumbest arguments with my kids. We were playing Minecraft, and I was asking them if they ever really thought about how in creative mode, you can basically have anything you want, but all there is to do it create.  And in survival mode, you have to understand the environment, gather stuff, and build stuff out of it, but there’s lots you can do and can build, lots of games to play, etc - but you literally have to start with nothing!

My son’s all, “That’s not true dad!”

I’m like, “uh, ya it is buddy”

My daughter jumps in, “no dad! You’re wrong!”

Me:  ”Uh, again...’kids’...it’s either you create anything you want, or you start with nothing at all, and somehow must survive”

 

Awwwww then they stuck it to me!

The Truth is bitter sweet sometimes.

[Truthority]

56 minutes ago, pluto said:

LOVE is the Key!

Be Love!

Agreed. 

I had a happy childhood. But i was dumb as fuck. 

Now i am unhappy and fucking brilliant.

[Mondsee]

Best way I know is go with kids and play with them extremely genuinely. Let them be the ones who lead, and take the game extremely seriously. If they tell you a tree is a castle, that means the tree is a f*cking castle. If you're being chased, then run for your life. If you're playing floor is lava, then behave as if it was actual lava. When I was in high school, I was the tutor of a group of 1st graders, and would often play with them during school breaks. I promise during those breaks, I was back in 1st grade, it was great.

[Solonius]

unironically no fap and clean eating. I know Its cliche as hell but it will work. Just give it a few weeks.

[Missy in Japan]

When I first came to Japan as a high school foreign exchange student I felt like I was a kid again, and I know a lot of others here did as well. Everything was new and exciting, and we had limited language skills. I've been here long enough now that the initial excitement has worn off, so it doesn't last if you engage enough to assimilate into the culture. You could replicate this childlike feeling with almost any new experience that moves you, but I've seen incredible inner growth among members of the expat community here. Just be careful not to fall into any "grass is greener" situations

[Truth Addict]

Stop doubting. Start trusting.

[Truthority]

On 8/8/2019 at 11:02 PM, Solonius said:

unironically no fap and clean eating. I know Its cliche as hell but it will work. Just give it a few weeks.

i quit porn also a few months ago and haven't petted my kitten for a few weeks now

although it's starting to possess me like some overlord

i dont think few weeks will do it man

i once did nofap for 5 months (no orgasm either)

after that i blew a serious load and drank a bottle of whiskey 


felt awful but felt amazing too


god i hate life

FUCK YOU GOD

[Commodent]

When we are kids we are mostly right-brain dominant. This means you can certainly feel like a kid again, but there will be an expanded layer of intellect that might be at odds with the feeling right brain. So the key to feeling like a kid again is really cultivating healthy relationship between the left brain and the right brain, so that they can coexist. A very common conception nowadays is that our feelings is a burden that has to be controlled. And similarly we feel a certain disrespect towards our thinking mind because we're seeing how much it's preventing us from living in the moment and enjoying life. Now this is a classical left brain / right brain split. Left brain sees the right brain as unreasonable and the right brain sees the left brain as harsh and cold. This creates profound inner tension, where neither the right brain nor the left brain can flourish freely due to constantly being at odds with each other.

What you want is not 100% right-brain activity, but a healthy cooperation between the two hemispheres. The best way I have found to strengthen this kind of communication in a healthy way is inner child work. The left brain KNOWS how to act lovingly and caringly towards others. You just need to apply it towards your feeling self. So here's how I do it:

In my journal, I start by adressing a situation that has been causing me distress. I then listen deeply and wait for a feeling response (the more you do this the clearer the feelings will become). When you've got a sense of what you're feeling, put it into words and write it down. Adress this response in a loving and validating, yet problem-solving way. Rinse repeat. I can offer an example from a recent dialogue I had which was particularly fruitful. It was over a situation with my landlord who also happens to be a friend of mine:

Quote

 

[...]

R: It's so cold and nasty over there

L: When we get there we will have good washing-routines implemented. We will also make clear our expectations regarding maintenance work in the apartment. No matter how XX will react to that there's always a solution. We don't even have to live there.

R: XX is such a fucking dick. Acts like a rebellious little shitkid when HE'S supposed to have responsibility. I just want to knock the living shit out of that fucking pig. How is it possible to be so fucking dumb? ...

[At this point several other parts of me wanted to interfere like usual, such as the self-blaming part of me and the part of me that strives to understand others, but I just made them step back and let this resentful part of me go on without interference. It was about two pages of angry insults, so I didn't include everything]

L: That was a lot ot take in, but that's alright. I bet it felt good to get it all out? I completely understand where you're coming from, and I get that it has been hard to live under such physical discomfort. Not only that, but you also feel that your requests have been completely ignored and even directly counteracted. That's at least how I interpret it.
I think the most important thing to see is that the experience in general of living there hasn't been very good, and that XX's neglect really was the last straw. He has on occasions neglected his responsibility, but the way I see it most of the problems is to a large extent centered around the state of the apartment, which is hard to do anything about.
Now, I won't make excuses for how XX has handled these things, and it is definitely something we should bring to his attention. I'm still thinking we shouldn't use too much energy to try to change his dysfunctional behavioral patterns. We can let him know how we see it, and if he goes defensive there is nothing more to say about that. With that kind of attitude he's obviously not open to see your side of the situation and realize the consequenses of what he has done. On the other hand, if he openly tells about how he experienced the whole thing we will definitely listen and try to come to an agreement.
I will again make it clear that most of the bad experiences are tied with poor living conditions in general. When the conditions are as they are, I still understand that it's extra important to you that it doesn't get worse. I completely understand that. That's why I'm thinking that we on the long run aim towards finding a better place to live. And until then try to make the best out of the situation through the plan mentioned above. If things were to get really bad we could at any time just travel home, if only for a while. And if you were to have any other furstrations you can always come to me. I know I have been bad at stepping in in conflicts been you and other parts of me, but I will do my best to make it better. Thank you for telling me all this.

R: I see. XX is not really the biggest problem.

 

After this session I felt like all the built up anger and resenment towards my landlord completely evaporated. It's truly amazing how well this works at resolving inner conflict. @studentofthegame I figured this example might be of interest to you.

[studentofthegame]

@Commodent thanks for the heads up. Yeah, i have found that useful. Some situations have arisen that have lead me to think it’s time i gave journalling a proper go. I like the idea of using left and right brain too.